#this is one of my favorite le Carré novels

[oldshrewsburyian]

Dear friend with infallible literary taste: I don't suppose you would happen to know of any books with an espionage & romantic drama plot reminiscent of "Notorious" (1946)? I suppose Le Carré's "Little Drummer " is one option, but I haven't got the stomach for it. Many thanks for any recs!

Dear friend of graceful and gracious sentences! I have suggestions, although I feel that Notorious sets an extremely high bar, not just by virtue of Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman smoldering at each other.

If you're up for Le Carré at all, Silverview would be a good option, I think. Or The Russia House, if you haven't revisited it recently. But other than that, I'm leaving the master of the genre to one side. Romance happens, but mostly he is there to wring our hearts and our consciences in very good prose. So, alternatively:

Alan Furst. My confession/concession is that these are just formulaic enough that some of them blur for me. I have been sitting here wondering "what is the one where the protagonist's reputation is haunted by a propaganda photograph centering a personally traumatic moment?" (I did not find the answer.) But Furst's prose and plotting and characterization are all good, and I never mind the formula while I'm reading it. I like the formula a lot, in fact; it is "man gets caught up in antifascist espionage in 1930s Europe, and this affects his love life in some way." Two of my favorites are Dark Star and Mission to Paris. The first, Night Soldiers, is also good; it's more brutal than many of them, but I think this is a strength. The Spies of Warsaw also fits your criteria well, I think.

Helen MacInnes. My confession here is that I have never warmed to MacInnes the way I would like to warm to woman-authored mid-century spy novels. The generally placid acceptance of gender roles bugs me. And I think of them as sentimental in a way that may be unfair. But they are espionage novels that center romance. I would recommend While Still We Live, Assignment in Brittany, The Salzburg Connection, and Pray for a Brave Heart. The Salzburg Connection has Rilke in it, which is strongly in its favor.

I hope you find things to enjoy here!

#book recommendations #alan furst #helen macinnes #spy novel #espionage #asks and answers

[autisticandroids]

as a le carré fan, do you have an opinion on small town in Germany? I’ve read nearly all of his 60s/70s novels and embarrassingly think that one is my favourite!

so i think that one is very interesting as like a kind of... study in le carre as a hard boiled detective story? the main guy iirc is a lot more macho than le carre's usual effete college boy, more in the leamas mold, oor perhaps o.g. george smiley from call for the dead but with all of the softness sucked out. i really liked astig when i read it but i've forgotten a lot of it now, though. i would love to know what your second favorite is so i can have a basis for comparison

#cucking the berlin wall #asks #anonymous

[kavinskysdick]

rules: list 9 favorite books of 2023 or 9 books on your TBR list for 2024, tagged by @jeffgoldblumsmulletinthe90s (⁠灬⁠º⁠‿⁠º⁠灬⁠)

I'm also gonna split the difference here, from 2023:

THE SPEAR CUTS THROUGH WATER by Simon Jimenez — crazy good book, crazy good prose and structure. apparently some people find it a little dense and confusing, but I... did not! so ymmv but extremely worth a read if you like storytelling and mythology

MY ANNIHILATION by Fuminori Nakamura — this book is fucking weird and it rules. idk I guess it's "dark fiction" probably if that's not your vibe, but it's pretty novel, so I'd say if you're interested in uhhh unreliable narrators (lol) and misuse of pop psychology, def read it

ANTWERP by Roberto Bolaño — I've been obsessed with Bolaño since I read THE SAVAGE DETECTIVES for fun in college and man does this deliver. a strange and twisty series of people and events and ideas that unravel and respin to become a dreamy series of prose poems

THE BLIND OWL by Sadegh Hedayat — I'm reading Naveed Noori's translation and a) the translator's intro is so good, I always recommend reading those if you don't, but also b) this book is so strange and compelling. if you like layers of narrative and dreams and another bizarre narrator, highly recommend

FOR 2024:

CHLORINE by Jade Song

THE ARCHIVE UNDYING by Emma Mieko Candon (to finish, I'm like an eighth of the way in)

GNOMON by Nick Harkaway (another to finish, I'm like... probably also an eighth of the way in LOL)

THE CABINET by Un-su Kim (I started this over a year ago so I just gotta start over at this point, but it was very intriguing right off the bat)

THE RUSSIA HOUSE by John le Carré (one of the few of his books I haven't read, I got a cool old edition at a used bookstore last year)

tagging... whomstever would like to be tagged! consider this a call from the wind

#books #TBR

[californian-odyssey]

Bundles, holidays, novel, tea!

(Autumn asks!)

Bundles: Describe your ideal date.

Hmmm I love a good coffee date! It’s easy and not so stressful for either of us ☺️ and maybe follow up with a museum or a bookstore! I like simpler dates.

Holidays: Do you prefer Halloween, Thanksgiving, Or Christmas?

Ooooo that’s a hard one. I think my favorite out of the 3 is Christmas because I love the music, happiness, and I just feel cozy 🥰🥰🥰

Novel: Favorite Book?

“For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway 😁and a very close second is “Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy” by John Le Carré

Tea: What is something that soothes you?

Tea itself! But also rain, cuddles, and a warm blanket 🥰🥰🥰🥰

#cameoutstruggling93 #thank you 😁

[arielseaworth]

It was the face of a spy branded by his own deception. […] We smile, but our withholding makes our smile false. When we are exhilarated, or drunk – or even, as I am told, make love – the reserve does not dissolve, the gyroscope stays vertical, the monitory voice reminds us of our calling. Until gradually our very withholding becomes so strident it is almost a security risk by itself. So that today – if I go to a reunion, say, or we have a Sarratt old-boys’ night – I can actually look round the room and see how the secret stain has come out in every one of us. I see the overbright face or the underlit one, but inside each I see the remnants of a life withheld. I hear the hoot of supposedly abandoned laughter and I don’t have to mark down the source of it to know that nothing has been abandoned – not its owner, nor its interior restrictions, nothing.

The Secret Pilgrim, John le Carré

#I love this passage #this is one of my favorite le Carré novels #even though it's sometimes described as a short story collection pretending to be a novel - ouch! #there's an overarching narrative thread connecting the different stories though #they're not divorced from one another #a suitable adaptation would be a 13-episode Netflix series #The Secret Pilgrim #John le Carré #book quote

[davidfosterwallaceandgromit]

Favorite books read in 2021

The City & the City by China Miéville - Hard-boiled detective story, set in two fictional Eastern European city states that ... coexist in the same geographical space without acknowledging each other. What? Yeah. The people from city A walk down the street, pretending they can’t see the people from city B. But then there's a dead body, with connections to an important archaeological dig in disputed territory between the two cities... Don’t go into this book for the mystery, go into it for the most off-the-chain worldbuilding you’ll see this year.

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers - Of all the Lord Peter Wimsey books without Harriet, this is definitely the best I’ve read, and straight up one of the best mysteries I’ve read. Not just an exercise or a puzzle, but really about the little town, and Peter's character, with all the attendant emotional weight.

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene - I read this for my favorite English Lit prof in college, and I loved it, so I wanted to revisit it and see if I still liked it. I did! Takes place during and after the Blitz in London. Fascinating conversion story, perfectly constructed. I once again listened to the audiobook read by Colin Firth, which I obv recommend highly — he gives a really good performance.

Provenance by Ann Leckie - Set in the Ancillary Justice universe, but with unrelated characters on a totally new planet, this book has just about every type of crime and misdemeanor from forgery, identity fraud, art theft, to [spoiler redacted], to terrorism! Delightful worldbuilding as always from Ms. Leckie.

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben MacIntyre - (nonfiction) Another absolutely unbelievable espionage story from the best spy nonfiction writer of our time, Mr. MacIntyre. Reads like a novel but with all the procedural detail and careful research you desire from good historical writing.

Absolute Friends by John le Carré - What if Brideshead Revisited was a cold war spy romcom instead? What then?

> I did one of these for 2019, and then forgot to last year, even though I read some really great stuff in 2020. I guess something else was on my mind in December 2020... no idea what it could have been. Anyway, bonus 2020 book recs:

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym - Total dramatic detail for an ordinary little group of people’s ordinary lives for a time -- Barbara somehow makes it totally engrossing.

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis - Two-part Oxford time travel book about undergrad historians who travel back from the 2050s to study WWII, and then get stuck in the Blitz. Experience every single human emotion!

Space Struck by Paige Lewis - (poetry) I don’t read a lot of poetry, because it's either like gnawing on bones w no meat, or it's really high-calorie and eating it will require all of my faculties. This book was definitely the latter. Life-changing for me personally, as someone with a low poetry diet.

The Little Drummer Girl by John le Carré - I think about this book every single day of my life.

#lit #i rly did not read many books this year :( #but I did read a lot of Lord Peter #peter my good friend peter #I need to get back into some nonfiction... who got recs

[aion-rsa]

Best Female Spy Movies & TV Shows to Watch After Black Widow

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Black Widow is out, bringing the women-led spy genre to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film follows Natasha Romanov in the time between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War as she works to bring down the Red Room, aka the Soviet-affiliated program that took her as a baby and brainwashed her into becoming an assassin. While the women-centric spy drama may be new for the MCU, it’s has been one of the most prolific and entertaining action sub-genres over the past few decades. If you’ve watched Black Widow and you’re looking for more taut and emotional spy thrillers to check out, we have some TV and film suggestions for you…

Hanna

Many have seen the 2011 action feature directed by Joe Wright and starring Saoirse Ronan as a girl assassin raised in the wilderness by her spy father Eric Bana, but the TV series based on the film is even better. Currently moving towards its third season, the Amazon Prime series has so much more room to delve into the nuances of the film’s premise, especially in its second season, which moves completely past the events of the movie. While the first season leans into the coming-of-age themes inherent in Hanna venturing out into the world for the very first time, the second season chooses to delve further into the spy drama of it all, expanding the series’ focus to center some of the other teen super soldiers born into the same program Hanna was rescued from as a baby. If you would have liked to learn more about the other Widows Natasha and Yelena are working to save in Black Widow, then Hanna is the show for you.

Atomic Blonde

Stylish and featuring some of the best fight scenes this side of John Wick (the film’s director David Leitch, also worked on John Wick), Atomic Blonde stars the incomparable Charlize Theron as a spy tasked with finding a lost of double agents that is being smuggled into the West on the eve of the Berlin Wall’s collapse. Like Black Widow, Atomic Blonde only has so much narrative time to delve into the complexities of this set up and setting and, maybe sensing it won’t be able to do them justice, instead leans into the aesthetic and action of this world. It works, thanks in no small part to performers like Theron, James McAvoy, and Sofia Boutella, who bring to life the stress, violence, and desperation of this intersection of place and time far better than its script.

Queen Sono

American and British spy dramas often have white westerners traveling to other, poorer nations for missions, depicting a real-life colonial power structure while rarely interrogating it. Queen Sono, billed as Netflix‘s first African original series (it is a South African series, specifically), is a spy drama that centers Black characters and community in fun and powerful ways, bringing the familiar tropes of the genre to what will probably be a new setting for most American viewers. Queen Sono follows South African spy Queen (Pearl Thusi) as she works to balance her dangerous and clandestine missions with her personal life. Funny, emotional, and action-packed, Queen Sono is a must-see for any spy drama lover looking for something new—and it’s a damn shame Netflix won’t be moving forward with a second season.

Alias

To me, Alias will always be the original. The female-led spy drama was on network television when I was a teenager, and its combination (especially in the first season and a half) of fierce fight sequences, tense spycraft, and character-driven drama made it my favorite show. Like Black Widow, Alias is grounded in family drama, most especially the father-daughter relationship between Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) and spy dad Jack Bristow (Victor Garber), but later bringing in other familial dynamics as well. The series starts as your classic double agent story, as Sydney decides to take down the agency she works for after they have her fiance killed, but, in classic J.J. Abrams style, the plot really spirals out from there—for better and worse. Airing for five season and more than 105 episodes, if you’re looking for more family-driven spy drama, Alias is the show for you.

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Deutschland 86

All three “seasons” of this excellent German-language Cold War spy series that follows an East German boy forced to become a spy in West Germany are worth watching, but the second installment, set in 1986, gives us viewers many more lady spy characters to be impressed by compared to the original Deutschland 83 story. Main character Jonas remains the protagonist of this tale, but his Aunt Lenora, probably the best spy in the entire show, takes an even bigger role in Deutschland 1986 and the subsequent Deutschland 89, as does her lover/partner Rose, a South African operative working for the African National Congress and played by the MCU’s Florence Kasumba. Throw in Jonas’ baby mama Annett, back in East Germany working as a junior intelligence agent, and the mysterious  Brigitte, and you have a second season teeming with complex and cutthroat women spies.

Nikita

This highly underrated spy series ran for four action-packed seasons on The CW before totally sticking its landing in 2013. Technically an adaptation of the 1997 La Femme Nikita TV series, which was in turn an adaptation of Luc Besson’s 1990 action film of the same name, Nikita quickly surpassed both originals to become one of the best female-led spy stories of all time. Starring Maggie Q as the titular Nikita, the series began after the former spy has vowed to take down the secret agency that trained her, known as the Division. Our story begins when Nikita plants her protege, Alex, within Division, with a plan to work together to take the agency down. Of course, going undercover comes with its own emotional and ethical complications, and Alex may not know all that there is to know about her mentor Nikita, and Nikita’s role in Alex’s tragic past. With a stellar supporting cast that includes Melinda Clarke and Xander Berkeley, Nikita was far better than it needed to be and, if your a fan of the action spy genre, is definitely worth watching.

Killing Eve

Maybe it was the Russian accent, but Yelena has mad Villanelle vibes in Black Widow, and I mean that in the least psychopathic way possible. Unless you live under a rock, you’re probably aware of this BBC America series starring Sandra Oh as a bored MI-5 agent and Jodie Comer as the spy-assassin she becomes obsessed with catching, but if you haven’t yet checked it out and are looking for another female-driven spy story with plenty of banter, then Killing Eve is the show for you. The second season gets a little rocky, but with a riveting season three and the announcement that season four will be the show’s last, now is the time to jump on the Killing Eve bandwagon.

Little Drummer Girl

In terms of tone or style, Little Drummer Girl shares little with Black Widow—it’s much more geopolitical thriller than superhero action—but I’m including the British spy series on the list because it does share a star with Black Widow. Yelena’s Florence Pugh plays an aspiring actress named Charlie who is recruited by Mossad to infiltrate a Palestinian group planning an attack in Europe. Based on a novel of the same name by acclaimed spy author John le Carré, the six-episode series is directed by Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook and co-stars Michael Shannon and Alexander Skarsgård, and the talent is not wasted. The miniseries delves much more into the ethics of spycraft than Black Widow is able or comfortable doing, asking difficult questions about how violence and manipulation are used and justified across national lines. If you’re looking for a spy drama that isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions, then Little Drummer Girl is for you.

Gunpowder Milkshake

OK, this one is more of an assassin drama than a spy drama, but the cast is too good not to include it on the list. Starring Doctor Who‘s Karen Gillan and Game of Thrones‘ Lena Headey as a pair of daughter/mother assassins, Gunpowder Milkshake is another action thriller that is all in with the familial dynamics. Past the two stars, Gunpowder Milkshake also features the iconic Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, and Carla Gugino, rounding out the cast of action women. The film doesn’t drop on Netflix (in the U.S.) and theaters (elsewhere) until Friday, but you’ll be ready.

The post Best Female Spy Movies & TV Shows to Watch After Black Widow appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[greenjudy]

Farewell, dear. You were one of my favorites.

#john le carré

[oldshrewsburyian]

As much as I'd love to talk Carré, I gotta admit I've tried and failed to get through even one of his novels. (I had to do research to even find out which it was, it was The Spy Who Came In From the Cold). It's really a tragedy, as someone who is SUPER into spy stories, political thrillers, and cold war history esp. re: the GDR, I was so ready to enjoy this book. But it just gave me nothing I enjoyed and I gave up halfway through. Also read excerpts of Tinker, Taylor for university and while that was a little better, I can't say I felt the need to get the full novel either...

Is there any novel of his that is markedly different in style or should I just give up on Le Carré if I didn't like that one?

I'm very glad that you've asked this question so that I can say: please, do not give up on Le Carré! One of the things I love about him is the variety of his novels, the precision of their individuality. Also, I'm trying and failing to imagine how reading excerpts of Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy would work, because while the prose is gorgeous, it doesn't strike me as, really, an excerptable novel. A word in defense of TSWCIFTC as well: when I first read it, in my early twenties, I rather forced myself through much of it it, not seeing, really, how it all added up: the deliberations, the compromises, the aspirations, the betrayals. And then I got to the end, started weeping, and immediately started rereading it to try to force the novel and the characters to some other conclusion.

Anyway! Other Le Carré recs: A Small Town in Germany, perhaps the most Austenian of his works, about the functioning and functionaries of Bonn, and postwar/Cold War anxieties in the Bundesrepublik.

For late Cold War anxieties, there's A Perfect Spy, about the (mis)education of a British spy, and the myths and vulnerabilities of the Old Firm. The Russia House is a particular favorite of mine, with the US, UK, and USSR anxiously figuring out what the parameters (and vulnerabilities) of glasnost are, and people figuring out what heroism is required to live with integrity in an era of inhumane states and... I just love it a lot.

You might also enjoy his more recent political thrillers, whether about neocolonialist exploitation (The Constant Gardener,) Islamic fundamentalism and western cynicism/hypocrisy (A Most Wanted Man,) or the feverish extremism of the Brexit/Trump era (Agent Running in the Field.)

#john le carré #espionage #spy novels #so delighted that my 'talk to me about le carré' ploy is paying off #the spy who came in from the cold #a small town in germany #a perfect spy #the russia house #the constant gardener #a most wanted man #agent running in the field #book recommendations

[universitybookstore]

Bargain Book Recommendations

During these difficult times, University Book Store hope you are staying safe and well. We’re here to bring you recommendations for fresh reads, if your To-Read Pile is getting uncomfortably low. We’ve recently added more than 400+ bargain-priced titles (cause $$$ is tight for us all right now), and our booksellers will be posting some of their recommendations over the coming weeks. Today’s picks come from our Bargain Book Buyer, Dan Doody.  

Written on the Body | Jeanette Winterson—In this brilliant novel, Winterson chronicles the life & loves of a unnamed, genderless narrator and in the process detaches the romantic experience from physical gender, showing us the universal truths of love. 

Watership Down | Richard Adams—This is one of my absolute favorite books that keeps growing in my estimation as the years go by. Of course, it follows a band of rabbits who travel forth from their native warren in search of a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society.

Paperbacks from Hell | Grady Hendrix—Hendrix and his co-author Will Errickson chronicle the golden age of horror publishing (the 70s & 80s) with plenty of evil children, diabolic cults, bedeviled children, sexy vampires, and oh-so-many skeletons.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark | Alvin Schwartz—Speaking of horror literature, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a true classic of the genre and so often the first exposure to the genre for many young readers. Grab your trusty flash light and favorite blanket….

Anno Dracula | Kim Newman—What if Dracula, Lord of the Undead, had defeated Van Helsing, Harker, Dr. Seward, et. al? This is the tantalizing question Kim Newman explores here. Following his victory over his enemies, Dracula now rules England having wed Queen Victoria to become her Prince Consort, meanwhile vampirism has spread through all levels of English society, particularly amongst the aristocracy. But all is not well in this increasingly Undead Albion—a murderer, dubbed Jack the Ripper, stalks London’s Whitechapel district….

The Books of Earthsea | Ursula K. Le Guin—Le Guin’s epic saga collected in one volume with beautiful illustrations by Charles Vess. This is a must have volume for any lover of the Fantasy genre. 

The Shining Girls | Lauren Beukes—an intricately plotted tale about a time-traveling serial killer who stalks his victims, bright young women who burn with potential, across six decades. Absolutely brilliant in its vision and execution.

Tailor, Tinker, Soldier, Spy | John Le Carré—This might be the best Cold War espionage thriller ever written, and it’s certainly my favorite. If you’ve only ever seen the BBC miniseries or the recent film adaptation, do yourself a favor and read the unforgettable original novel. 

The Gin Dictionary | David T. Smith—It’s summer time, and nothing is more refreshing on a hot afternoon than a cool, gin & tonic with a twist, maybe a slice of cucumber, too. Here we have a concise compendium to the many complex terms and techniques, equipment and varieties that go into the most perfect of alcoholic spirits.

Cork Dork | Bianca Bosker—Maybe wine is more your summer sip of choice. Amateur wine enthusiast Bianca Bosker charts her journey through the fascinating, labyrinthian world of vintners, wineries, and sommeliers.

The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824 | Harvey Sachs—This year marks the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. For many, he is the quintessential composer of classical music, and Sach’s enthralling book explores the ground-breaking symphony and the cultural and historical world that produced it.

Why You Love Music | John Powell—If you find yourself humming “Ode to Joy” after reading the above and want to know why, then pick up a copy of John Powell’s book and learn the answer. He explores both the innumerable physiological and psychological ways in which music affects us.

#Jeanette Winterson #Written on the body #Vintage Books #Watership Down #Richard Adams #Scribner #Paperbacks from Hell #Grady Hendrix #Quirk Books #Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark #alvin schwartz #HarperCollins #Anno Dracula #Kim Newman #titan books #The Books of Earthsea #ursula k le guin #Gallery Books #The Shining Girls #Lauren Beukes #Hachette #Tailor Tinker Soldier Spy #John Le Carre #Penguin Books #The Gin Dictionary #David T. Smith #Cork Dork #Bianca Bosker #the ninth sister #Beethoven

[bondsmagii]

One of my favorite stories ever about John Le Carr is that he apparently wrote like the worlds most realistic spy novel ever, and his superiors were like "Motherfucker you need to change that shit NOW." And he changed to be more pulpy and dramatic and not as realistic.

one of my favourite facts is that real life spy and traitor Kim Philby (the man partially responsible for ending le Carré’s career as a spy, in fact!) was a great fan of le Carré’s novels, especially The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. during an interview once, someone asked Philby what he thought of it, and if it was a realistic portrayal of spying, and Philby said that it was excellent but his main criticism was that everything went too smoothly. according to Philby, the fact that the whole operation wasn’t a shitshow from beginning to end was unrealistic -- which, knowing what I know about MI6 during the Cold War, is accurate.

#anon #asks

[chamerionwrites]

@permian-tropos replied to my tags on this post:

“#it’s the best star wars movie fight me” ……… is this an invitation? I assume this isn’t an invitation. you are not asking for my opinion. but my god do I wish I liked Rogue One as much as you did. There’s so many people who absolutely adore the movie and I’m mildly jealous. I feel like I have the cilantro gene but for Rogue One 

Haha well, you’re right that I meant it as a rhetorical flourish and I certainly don’t believe either (1) that it’s a flawless movie or (2) that it ought to be everybody’s favorite - personal taste is a thing, and I’m always annoyed by folks who imply that anyone who feels meh about their own favorite book/film/show/etc is clearly just too dumb to Get It. (Ask me sometime about the crushing indifference I feel towards Hamlet even as I vibrate with nerd excitement about Macbeth or Lear, or the fact that I recognize Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a really well-crafted spy novel and deserves the acclaim but it doesn’t move me like some of Le Carré’s other - in some cases objectively less structurally sound - work.) So I will cheerfully go to the mat for your right to say yeah, this particular story just isn’t my cup of tea.

That said I will also go to the mat to defend my opinion that in the holistic sense of story+cinematography+acting+pacing+thematic coherence, Rogue One has a very strong claim to being the best Star Wars movie out there.

#tbf sw movies mostly range from 'catastrophically bad' to 'great but uneven' #ask box #star wars #rogue one #my posts

[ulfwolf]

Poems -- Musing 206

A poem   is a novel     with acres       of space

Many novels say nothing. Some poems say a lot. Most poems say more than the run-of-the-mill entertainment read—no matter how high the pressed-into-service reviewers’ (or fellow writers’) praises. Of course, this is always seen through the eyes of the reader.

The point is that even a short poem can say as much as, or more than even a very long novel; can carry more spiritual weight as it were. Few words, lots of space between them makes for a book-sized poem.

One such poem—one of my long-time favorites—is by William Butler Yeats, Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven. It says more (and more beautifully) than most books I’ve read:

 Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

 But then there are the books by Nadeem Aslam, written in some of the most beautiful English I have read, and in, say, Map for Lost Lovers, there are single pages that say almost as much as Yeats’ poem above. Then again, Aslam is an exceptional writer—a lyrical poet who happens to paint in prose.

What makes one poet write poetry and another write novels?  (Yes, I consider the true novelist a poet as well). Perhaps he or she has adjudicated one or the other as the better means to convey the story—and all decisions made by the writer should serve the story.

A novelist, says John Gardner in one of his inspired (and inspiring) books, is like a marathon runner, the short story writer a sprinter, though he stays mum, track-and-field-metaphor-wise, when it comes to poets—but I’d venture that they’re more like pole vaulters than anything.

Some poems glow so unmistakably with the light they convey that anyone sitting down in peace and quiet to read and absorb cannot help but understand—thus: read, absorb, understand, put the book down, close eyes, and marvel at the experience.

Some stories, though brief at the core, still require a whole spider’s web of tributary causes and events to bring that kernel to tellable life, and those stories become novels—or very, very long poems (which I am not a fan of to tell you the truth—if a story takes fifty poem pages to tell, my advice: write a novel, or a long short story).

As for story length, my view is that a story is as long as it needs to be in order to carry and fully convey its meaning, and not a word longer (or shorter).

When it comes to few words, I have found that some stanzas say more than most novels. This, by Thomas Traherne is an example:

 You never enjoy the world aright, till the Sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars.

 William Blake is another amazing poet-mystic who cay say the most amazing (and, to my thinking, true) things in few words, such as: “If a thing loves, it is infinite.”

Some days I want to submerge myself in prose, and few submerge me as well as John Crowley—as does he with his wonderful Crow novel: Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr. (Wow, just noticed this: Crow-ley).

For me, another great submerger is John Le Carré, who is so much more than a genre (spy thrillers) writer. He writes as well as any one I have come across, and I’ve come across a bunch.

Some days I want to melt into a single page of poetry, and then I often turn to Mary Oliver, to Denise Levertov, to Christina Rossetti.

And some days, like today, I just want to write something, anything, myself.

 ::

P.S. If you like what you’ve read here and would like to contribute to the creative motion, as it were, you can do so via PayPal: here.

[aion-rsa]

Florence Pugh’s Best Roles: What to Watch After Black Widow

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Black Widow, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s prequel centering on Natasha Romanoff as she works to take down the Red Room in the period following Captain America: Civil War, premieres in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access this Friday (and is playing in the UK now!). In the film, British actress Florence Pugh steals the show as Natasha’s little sister who was also brainwashed into becoming a Soviet assassin at a young age.

If you’re looking to check out other work from Pugh, you’re in luck. The 25-year-old thespian has made quite a name for herself over her relatively short career, regularly elevating good material to great with her performances, and already earning an Oscar nomination. Here are some of our favorite roles…

Midsommar

Prior to Black Widow, Pugh was perhaps best known to certain audiences as the flower crown-wearing protagonist Dani in 2019’s Midsommar. Ari Aster’s brightly-lit folk horror has a lot going for it, but it wouldn’t work if not for Pugh grueling work as audience surrogate, as we are all made to witness the slowly-dawning terror of a Scandinavian pagan cult’s savage midsummer festival in which she’s ominously crowned the May Queen. Watch at your own risk.

The Falling

In Pugh’s first feature film role, the actress stars alongside Game of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams as best friends at an all-girls school in the 1960s where a mysterious fainting epidemic breaks out amongst the teen girl population. (Pugh’s real-life older brother, Toby Sebastian, featured as Trystane Martell alongside Williams in Game of Thrones.) As a feminist psychological horror, The Falling is worth a watch in its own right, but it’s also amazing to see just how good Pugh is from the very beginning of her career.

Side note: In The Falling, Pugh also demonstrates her musical ability. Before getting into acting, Pugh posted song covers on YouTube.

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Little Women

Pugh played Amy, the youngest of the March sisters, in Greta Gerwig’s 2020 adaptation of the beloved Louisa May Alcott novel, Little Women. This cast is an embarrassment of riches, but, for many, Pugh is the standout, bringing nuance and likability to a complicated role. Her Oscar-nominated performance spans years, requiring Pugh to play ages 12 to 18—and she somehow mostly pulls it off?

Fighting With My Family

In 2019, Pugh played real-life wrestler Paige Knight in this biopic based on the 2012 documentary about the English pro wrestler’s journey from wrestling with her family in the UK’s World Association of Wrestling to trying out and making it big as part of the WWE. Like pretty much all of Pugh’s projects, there is a lot to like about Fighting With my Family. Past the strength of the true story, Pugh’s co-stars include Lena Headey, Nick Frost, and Dwayne Johnson (in a meaty cameo role).

Lady Macbeth

Arguably Pugh’s breakout role, 2016’s Lady Macbeth sees the actress taking center stage in this adaptation of 19th century Russian novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. Pugh stars as Katherine, a young woman married to an old and rigid man in rural Northumberland circa 1865. Like other films on this list, the Victorian tragedy is not for the faint of heart, but it’s worth it for Pugh’s mesmerizing performance.

Little Drummer Girl

For the most part, Pugh has stuck to cinematic roles, which makes 2018 TV miniseries Little Drummer Girl a bit of an outlier. But let’s be real: the BBC adaptation of the John le Carré novel isn’t your typical TV project. All six episodes are directed by Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden) and include actors like Michael Shannon and Alexander Skarsgård—this miniseries may have been broadcast on TV, but it has more in common with feature film projects than much of the TV landscape.

Pugh stars as Charlie, an aspiring actress in 1979’s UK who is recruited by Mossad agents to infiltrate a Palestinian group plotting terrorism in Europe. The character acts as both an audience surrogate and a source of mystery for the viewer, as Charlie becomes further embroiled in the ethically complex scenario. This is one of the best le Carré adaptations out there, and includes some of Pugh’s best work.

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Don’t Worry Darling

Okay, this one isn’t actually out yet, but Olivia Wilde’s follow-up to directorial debut Booksmart is already making waves on the internet for obvious reasons. Co-starring Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Gemma Chan, and Wilde herself, Don’t Worry Darling is being billed as a psychological thriller. It stars Pugh as a 1950s housewife living in a utopian experimental community in the California desert with her loving husband (Styles), who discovers a disturbing truth. Yep, I’m in.

Black Widow

Black Widow, the MCU prequel centering Natasha Romanoff in the period between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, has been a long time coming. The movie was meant to launch Phase 4 of of the MCU, but passed that role to WandaVision due to COVID-19 disruptions to the theatrical distribution model. Pugh plays Yelena, Natasha’s sister and fellow Black Widow program trainee. It’s unclear, at this point, what Yelena’s role in the MCU might be moving forward, but given Natasha’s fate in Endgame, we’re expecting to see a lot more Pugh in the MCU.

What is your favorite Florence Pugh role? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Florence Pugh’s Best Roles: What to Watch After Black Widow appeared first on Den of Geek.

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